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Along with a great number of new sounds and sonics, the recent modular synthesizer movement has also generated some new terminology. One such entry into the technical jargon of this field is the phrase, composing with "on purpose notes", or what many of us once thought of as the recognition of tonality - a most very basic aspect of contemporary music. While the works of d'Voxx (the duo of Nino Auricchio & Paul Borg) may be attributed to an elaborate matrix of electronic components, their CD Télégraphe (56'00") is the full flame, and not just a flickering idea found in their technology. A knowing blend of strict strategizing and the acknowledgement of the necessity of a greater precision permeate Télégraphe. To convey the sweeping complexity of their ideas this duo arranges a music system so that they may wander easily through its structure. Like a letter within a word, each module plays a role subordinate to the composite whole. In pulsing, complicated spheres of energy emanating into the world around us, the pulse of this music comes, not so much from the rate of its LFO or clock divider, but from the entwined creativity of its collaborators. Stringing together nine realizations with field recordings of the urban underground each piece moves rapidly from audio art into a contemporary groove. The music's heated circuitry yields an excitement and urgency of hot, real and sudden energy. Just as body-beat drums roll and crest dramatically beneath propulsive figures, strands of sequencer notes mix, shift and split in a twisting double helix of echoing electronic tones. Above this torrent rises consonant chords traversing the scales - exerting a serene, secure authority. The kinetic and moving head-music found on Télégraphe will appeal to those with an ear for rhythm - even as it gently swings back and forth between dynamism and contemplation. Auriccho & Borg have woven their themes and forms into a strikingly intricate whole. They have brought this music into the world so as to feel the satisfaction of being heard - and in doing so generate an intimacy to which we may often return.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 4 April 2019 |
